The Rude Pundit: A Brief Note Regarding the Zimmerman Verdict: At Long Last, the Most Perfect Crime

[meegbear]

Mystery novels are filled with criminals who attempt to commit the perfect crime. That is, a murder, usually, that they get away with. Most of the time, there is some cat-and-mouse game between the detective trying to solve the case and the killer. The perfect crime is the one that the killer never even gets arrested for, the one where, perhaps, as in the case of Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter," the cops unwittingly eat the murder weapon.

But the verdict in the case of George Zimmerman, accused of murdering Trayvon Martin, proves that everyone from Agatha Christie to James Patterson has been thinking small. The perfect crime is not just the one you get away with. The perfect crime is the one for which you are acquitted in a court of law. In fact, the most perfect crime of all is the one where, no matter what your true intent, the law supports and sanctions your right to murder in cold blood.

The shooting of Trayvon Martin, it turns out, was that most perfect of crimes.

This blog has previously discussed the complicity of the Florida legislature in making laws that are so ludicrously pro-murder that a Trayvon Martin-type killing was inevitable. It has also argued that the police and conservative media figures successfully turned Martin into a nigger thug who was looking for trouble. It has shown, quite clearly, that Stand Your Ground and other so-called "self-defense" laws do not apply to African Americans who choose to defend themselves. Any anger the Rude Pundit feels, at Zimmerman, at the verdict, at the prosecutors, at the defense attorneys, he expressed last night on Twitter; it has been expressed by others and is being expressed in the streets of America tonight. He agrees with Ta-Nehesi Coates that the law in the state of Florida, a law passed by politicians who can be voted out of office if the people of the state really want it changed, demanded that George Zimmerman be let free and given back his gun.

So he'll just say this: On that night last February, when he got out of his car, George Zimmerman became the judge and jury of Trayvon Martin, accused of the crime of being a black male teenager walking in a neighborhood. Zimmerman then became Martin's executioner because, like so many oppressed people before him, Martin resisted Zimmerman's judgment. So Zimmerman did what scared people in power do all the time. He used overwhelming force to stop Martin's resistance. It is the same kind of force that has killed people and movements in America and all over the world.

George Zimmerman wanted Trayvon Martin to submit to his power, to be what Zimmerman had adjudicated him to be. Trayvon Martin refused. Trayvon Martin resisted. And that's why Trayvon Martin, like so many resisters before him, had to be killed.

There was no way George Zimmerman was going to be found guilty because his guilt would have made Trayvon Martin innocent and said that the law was wrong. Even worse, it would have made Trayvon Martin, the black male teenager, right in his resistance, and the state of Florida, if not the entire nation, would not allow that to happen.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

[onehandle]

1. It's certainly a template for how to get away with murder in Florida.

There are a fuckload of people making plans right this very second.

[4 more years]

2. Could not have said it better.

Nice job of getting to the real story.

[adirondacker]

3. One of the most honest and succinct explanations given of this travesty. Thanks for Posting. nt

[Rob H.]

4. I always love the Rude Pundit's writing

but he really knocked it out of the park with this one.

[PSzymeczek]

5. Love it, Rude!

[russspeakeasy]

6. Well done, Rude.

[B Stieg]

7. Register to Vote for Trayvon!!!

Then VOTE (before they take that away from us too)!

Get mad now, but REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!!

[Cha]

17. That is one of the best points made in

Last edited Tue Jul 16, 2013, 04:16 PM - Edit history (1)

Rude's Righteous Rant!

And, your..

Get mad now, but REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!!

is brilliant, B Stieg

[B Stieg]

23. Thank you (sir or madam)

The pundit is indeed a brilliant one. I love it when he guests on Stephanie Miller.

[Cha]

29. That would be Madam and you're

welcome.

GET MAD NOW BUT REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!

[malaise]

8. Rudie nailed it as usual

Rec

[Demeter]

9. It is a State Crime--because the State is complicit in it!

Liberty is weeping into NY harbor. Justice has hanged herself with her own scales.

[eggplant]

10. +1

oppressors are most dangerous when they know their power is waning. I expect this to get worse before it gets better. but I have faith that it will (eventually, glacially) get better.

[PsychGrad]

11. No matter how hard I try -

I cannot come up with an ounce of respect or empathy, or even descending sympathy, for Zimmerman. Not. One. Single. Ounce.

But - when I think of Trayvon that night, as I have often done throughout the past year, my heart swells for him. I feel his fear, and his feelings of injustice and his resistance of that judgment from someone whose judgment had a history of being terribly wrong and off base. I feel his fear building as he attempts to get away from this guy, his anger/frustration when he asks if he is being followed and is told "no" when he clearly KNEW that was a lie. He was not a "stupid" kid, he KNEW this guy was following, he didn't really know why, but he probably guessed a little bit - and then realized that this was not only unfair, but a severe deprivation of his rights as a human to walk through his own damn neighborhood in any way that he pleased - slow, fast, "leisurely" - whatever.

And then, when he stood his ground, more of a grown man than Zimmerman will EVER be - and he was handling an adult situation as a kid, all alone against an adult with a GUN - and he was handling it - Zimmerman punked out like a pussy and shot him. Instead of Zimmerman behaving like an adult that night, he behaved like a creepy, weird, psychopath - and for some reason, some people expected Trayvon to stand up and handle that situation in a way that was well beyond his years and ability at that time.

Oh, how I wish Zimmerman had not had a gun that night. Or, that Trayvon was just a little bit older. Maybe even old enough to have a gun himself - I know, that's terrible, but that kid didn't have a chance in that situation, and that angers me beyond anything. Two kids arguing and fighting and being careless is one thing - one adult CAUSING a kid to be in a situation he never should have had to handle or been expected to handle infuriates me. Especially when the result is that the adult comes out clean as a whistle... and the kid is dead.

[brush]

13. I love this post. So good

especially the part of Trayvon being put in that adult situation and handling it better than the adult, the wannabe cop.

[Skraxx]

15. Truth

Beautifully stated.

[BrotherIvan]

18. What an excellent point

Trayvon was a MINOR. Why wasn't more made of this? Z was the adult, Trayvon was a MINOR. Z caused the death of a minor. This is what comes from trying children as adults, they are seen as criminals. Why was the adult not held to higher account than the child?

WHY??

[PsychGrad]

20. I think of it often,

because I work closely with adolescents, and have for years now. About 10 years or so. I counsel them, and am well aware of what they can generally "handle" and what they can't. OF course, each child is different - but even just talking biologically, Trayvon's prefontal lobe was not even fully developed - you know, impulse control and such, whereas George Zimmerman's WAS - or should have been by age 29. To me, this is VERY important in how this played out.

I keep seeing people expecting Trayvon to have acted like an adult would have - because he was tall. Seriously? But, I do see this often - if a child looks like a man, then he must be a man. But this just is NOT true - not biologically, not emotionally, not psychologically. They aren't ABLE to act and think like adults, they just aren't there yet. Again, there's some difference in kids - individually - but across the board, there are some generals and averages. And just turned 17? That's still very young emotionally - it just is.

Zimmerman should have handled himself like an adult - and he didn't. He acted like a shady I don't know what - lied to Trayvon who asked him, "are you following me?" and said "no, I'm not following you". Adults just don't act like that - Generally, and adult would take a kid to task for these things. For instance, I would have simply said, "Hey, what are you doing?" Because I'm an adult and Trayvon was obviously a teenager - and I would handle myself accordingly. I certainly would NEVER approach someone elses child in a threatening or menacing manner - and yes, following him all over that complex in the dark, in his SUV and then on foot, was certainly menacing.

And expecting Trayvon to know how to handle this, and expecting him to handle this like an adult - is ludicrous. He handled it the same exact way that I would guess about 99% of kids his age would have. And yet Zimmerman - an obvious adult at the time, was excused for acting like less than an adult in the situation. I don't know if it is because Trayvon was tall and Zimmerman was short - or what, honestly, I don't get it. But as soon as I heard 29 years old and then just turned 17 years old - I was aghast. I would NEVER put a child into a situation that is for adults - never - and then shoot them because I couldn't handle it - to death, no less. I can't get my brain around it.

[BrotherIvan]

22. Not only that, but LEGALLY

it is my understanding that in an altercation, an adult who assaults a minor is always at fault. An adult is expected to get him or herself out of the situation. The burden of responsibility is much higher for adults such as in statutory rape. Trayvon was still legally a minor. I didn't watch the trial, but I cannot believe those questions weren't asked. I cannot believe the prosecution let Z's ridiculous story stand so much so that the jurors believed that was the only true explanation. Why did they call him a "teen" instead of a minor which has different and legal inferences? And yes, since he did look tall and mature for his age, the prosecution should have hammered that point home a million times. Z was wrong to approach him as an adult criminal in any way. His whole story is absolute fantasy and from the pictures of Trayvon's clean pants and hands, if I were a juror, I would suspect that Z said something to Trayvon and when Trayvon said something back, Z just shot him. It's just so awful I can't believe it.

[PsychGrad]

24. Agreed.

I guess that's my biggest hangup, as a person who works with adolescents. I just KNOW that I would never do anything except defend myself if necessary - but I also know how to not create ridiculous situations. And I work with kids that have severe diagnoses - and have not ONCE been in a situation that I had to use lethal force to get myself out of. Not one single time - hundreds, maybe thousands, of visits into their homes, schools, facilities, etc... but, I handle myself like an adult. I don't get in pissing matches with kids, and I don't threaten them, or power struggle with them - because I am an adult.

[BrotherIvan]

25. Absolutely.

It sounds like your work is very tough, but very rewarding. I taught at a continuation high school with gangsters and parolees and messed up kids and I'll never forget it. Once you got past the crust their lives had put on them, they were great kids.

[PsychGrad]

26. I love my kids :o)

I have worked in the homes, in the schools, in rehab centers, and in facilities - all with families and adolescents. I have worked with a LOT of young men - and I have yet to meet a 17 year old boy that doesn't try to act grown... Unfortunately for Trayvon, people mistook his posturing for criminality.

It is a tough job, emotionally draining - but I think everyone should have to do it for at least a year. Get some damn perspective on kids - I think as adults, we tend to forget what it felt like to be a kid/teenager and we attempt to apply our reasoning ability to them, which is unfair and ridiculous when you think about it.

I've yet to meet a "bad" kid - and I've worked with hundreds. I've met kids that had "bad" environments, or made bad decisions - but not yet a "bad" kid. All 17 year old boys are boys - they love, they hate, they posture - they cry when the judge yells at them, they feel fear, they feel invincibility - it's all part of the process of gaining autonomy. Trayvon was smack in the middle of that process - not anywhere near completing it. He deserved better than what he got from the adult that killed him that night - much better.

[BrotherIvan]

27. Totally agree

Nice to meet you PsychGrad

[noiretextatique]

28. as pat robertson said: why is the media portraying martin as a child?

when according to robertson, he was a fully grown man. the rw shock troops have been up in arms about this since it happened. they were complaining about the picture of a young trayvon in the media. listen up robertson, and they rest: martin was a CHILD. a 17 year old is considered a child in america, except when george zimmerman shoots him. sickening.

[Paladin]

12. An elegant interpretation of an awful set of circumstances. Thanks again, Rude. (nt)

[mountain grammy]

14. If Zimmerman had been found guilty, then Trayvon Martin would be innocent...

Never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense, as Rude usually does.

[RetroLounge]

16. Perfect

RL

[LearningCurve]

19. Well he's no Joey Heric

I miss The Practice.

[blkmusclmachine]

21. Stand Your Ground is a white man's law.